Records: RANP
'The London Spirit' In the original timeline, late 1376 was a point of fear and trepidation for London (and to a lesser extent, the rest of England). This time around, there seemed to be a ray of light. King Edward III was in steep decline, but at his age and history, that was expected. England braced for the inevitable, but the scales balanced toward joy: the corruption of the Court had been decisively addressed – and the beloved Crown Prince Edward had made a solid recovery. Facilitating that change were the Royal Brothers Eddy & Rick. This dynamic duo of Plantagenet geniuses gave great long-term prospects for England's rule and stability. That was to say nothing of an apparent medical miracle by the younger brother. It was a far cry between plague and dysentery, but it was still miraculous – and the second such miracle attributable to the boy. Richard was quoted as having said "there's a method to it..." indicating that the miracle was repeatable. Indeed, there were rumors of other healings made with the potential therapeutic capacity. This had the dangerous weight of edging Richard toward the regional recognition of sainthood, regardless of the opinion of the Church. A Church Inquiry The Church was officially interested in the apparent miracles, but was also vary wary given England's embrace of Lollardy (and the early public endorsement of such by said miracle worker). The fascination with Merlin's magic also massively complicated the issue. The Plantagenets had a history of telling the Church to take a long walk off a short pier, going back to protesting Papal taxation of the English Church. The funds were suspected to be financing the nation's enemies, while the practice of provisions – the Pope providing benefices for clerics – caused resentment in the English population. The statutes of Provisors and Praemunire, of 1350 and 1353 respectively, banned papal benefices in England, as well as limiting the power of the papal court over English subjects. There were rumors of Avignon strategy to claim Richard was empowered by the Devil rather than the divine – but if it was actually divine grace, deliberately misrepresenting it would be toxic all the way around. Finding it was divine grace... well, that wouldn't be convenient, either. Cut From the Cloth Regardless of the true source of the power, the Boys already expressed a desire to seek answers to the paramount questions. Where the boys spoke, people listened. With the Oxford-Cambridge brain trust already working together for the Council on Monetary Affairs, Prince Edward leaned on them yet again to support a new institution that would combine efforts for the study of medicine and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy Natural Philosophies]. Setting the archetype for a research university in the modern style, Prince Edward authorized the foundation of the Royal Academy of Natural Philosophies. This learned society for science was granted a royal charter and would act as an Academy of Sciences. This fulfilled a number of roles, including promoting Natural Philosophy and its benefits, recognizing excellence in Natural Philosophy, supporting outstanding Natural Philosophy, providing Natural Philosophic advice for policy, fostering international and global cooperation, education and public engagement. …Naturally, this was before “science” was even a word. 'Schoolhouse Rock' Savoy Palace became the home of the Royal Academy The most-desired real estate around London, hands down, was Savoy Palace. Until recently in the possession of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, John's pressing need for funds after the disastrous French campaign left him open to buyout. That's just what Crown did. The great majority of the palace was instantly taken over by Natural Philosophers, with quiet little corners occupied by "other business." The Sociability of Science In every corner of Savoy Palace, the stream of guests literally never stopped. This would've defined the phrase “Burning the Midnight Oil” – if there weren't already Glow Stones. Academics studied and found like minds in a collection rarely seen in the world. There were a dozen scholars and academics of those Natural Philosophers usually with a “/theologian” attached to their title, reporting from around England to answer the call. The Oxford Calculators, from the Merton College, showed up with their own contingent (ensuring the place of logic in the school). It became a celebrated who’s who of contemporary scientific thought. Every night, the Royal Academy hosted a conference or symposium. There would be occasional demonstrations and seminars, as well as simple social gatherings (and even then, there was always something interesting as the ice breaker: exotic food, music, a performance of sorts, etc.). It was exciting in a sense, but within a week, they landed on a somewhat bleak forecast: they didn’t have the population or agricultural weather of France, the steel of Toledo, or the gunpowder of China. Within the “Natural Philosophies” were questions and answers so profoundly important that the very survival of England was dependent on what innovation they could create. The Savoy Library There was an extensive library, built from purchases from travelers from places far distant. It was the salvaged or purchased collections of great thinkers – contributed as "the beginning" of the RANP library. It included the works of… *… The library of William of Ockham (d. 1347). This was kind of a coup as this English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher and theologian was one of the major figures of medieval thought. He was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies and was commonly known for Occam's razor, the methodological principle that bears his name. He also produced significant works on logic, physics, and theology. *… The library of of William of Auvergne (both the good and the bad), emphasizing the use of reason and academic study in theology. *… English cleric, scholar, mathematician, physicist, courtier and, very briefly, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Bradwardine (d. 1349). He was a celebrated scholastic philosopher and doctor of theology, often called Doctor Profundus, (medieval epithet, meaning "the Profound Doctor"). *… An Italian physician and inventor, Guido da Vigevano (d. 1349). He was the very style and spirit of the Middle Ages, and a distant forerunner of Alt-U Renaissance artist-engineers like Taccola, Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Leonardo da Vinci. He drew sketches of armored chariots, wind-propelled carriages and siege engines. He was also one of the first to add drawings of organs to his anatomical descriptions in a second treatise, The Anothomia. He created a vehicle that moved using a windmill that relayed force to gear and then to the wheels, essentially a forerunner to the automobile. *… French priest Jean Buridan (d. 1363), who sowed the seeds of the Copernican revolution in Europe. *… Famous French physician Guy de Chauliac (d. 1368), who among other things, clearly distinguished Bubonic Plague and Pneumonic Plague as separate diseases. *… Nicole Oresme (still alive! 1382), one of the most original thinkers of the 14th century. A theologian and bishop of Lisieux, he wrote influential treatises in both Latin and French on mathematics, physics, astronomy, and economics. In addition to these contributions, Oresme strongly opposed astrology and speculated about the possibility of a plurality of worlds. *… The clockmaker from Padua, Italy, Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio (still ticking 1388) who designed the astarium, an astronomical clock and planetarium that utilized the escapement mechanism that had been recently invented in Europe. He also attempted to describe the mechanics of the solar system with mathematical precision. *… German philosopher Albert of Saxony (still philosophizing 1390), known for his contributions to logic and physics. *… English physician and surgeon John Arderne (still carving 1392), who invented his own anesthetic that combined hemlock, henbane, and opium. In his writings, he also described how to properly excise and remove the abscess caused by anal fistula. *… There were also works of pioneering cartographer Giovanni da Carignano; respected English physician – and woman – Pernell; English physician and botanist John Bray, and a dozen others. There were French – and English – translations of the classics of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Socrates, Marcus Aurelius and others. *… This even included the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, featuring the Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136. While scholarship was sketchy, it was the central figure that was important: Merlin. According to young Richard, learning the arcane was “learning the language in which nature itself spoke.” Magic (a strong belief at the time) was dependent on knowledge of those natural philosophies. The Grand Survey It was clear the Royal Academy was looking to build an encyclopedic record for the total of human knowledge. Humanity, it was felt, come close once before with the Library of Alexandria, only to be lost to the ages. The Academy's call was global. European academics were growing by leaps and bounds, but they still leaned heavily on Arab scholarship. One of the most prevalent examples was nothing less than adopting the arab's adapted Hindu numerals. There was recognition of natural philosophies from places farther east, such as the medical Ayurvedic texts from India and chemistry from China (the rumored birthplace of gun powder). The library's ''Historical Branch'' In addition to the comprehensive, encyclopedic collection of natural philosophies, the crews brought general history and culture. In here were both translations/transcriptions and in some cases, original documents that were foundational to all the world's religions. This part of the library was special access, perhaps even more important to historians than modern natural philosophers, as many of the samples were already thousands of years old. People in this part of the library weren’t simply reading history, they were holding history in their hands. A highlight of the religious texts included original documents in Greek, Coptic, Latin and Syriac that came together to form the New Testament and associated gospels, including the original papyrus manuscripts. Additionally, there were key documents that went beyond relating the Old Testament, beyond even the accepted Hebrew Bible to include Hebrew and Aramaic Masoretic Text, as well as the ancient Greek version, the Septuagint. Of interest to a more distant, and perhaps wider audience, were foundational documents relating to the Quran, including the controversial variant readings (within the Islamic community). Additionally, there was foundational documentation relating to Buddhism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and various splinters, subgroups and regional tribal beliefs (all of which had an influence of one sort or another). Engineering: the applied sciences It almost seemed as if RANP "tinkers" had a roadmap to establish the foundations of engineering. Even in the "mundane," Merlin's influence was potent. Their inspiration was seemingly divine as they created the very tools of the trade, and began the movement for standardization in mechanical points mechanical – and everything else, from crafting to spelling. This movement drew them toward the creation of lathes and measurement tools. The RANP led the conversation to create standards for interchangeability, something that could be practically applied to nuts and bolts. This led to taps and dies that would become industry standards. *London saw their progress and raised them. The RANP created the tools to do it better. This included the measurement device of the screw micrometer. *Once they had the momentum on creating tools, they went crazy with it, next creating the screw-cutting lathe. This opened the door to the development of the machine tool, where the RS would spawn their engineers and tool and die maker. The lathe standardized the size of the screw threads, soon leading to a greater conversation… *It included mechanical engineering pieces such as the anchor escapement, coil spring, and balance spring (and plenty more that would’ve been invented by Alt-U geniuses such as Robert Hooke mid-1600s of the original Royal Society). *Finally, it included a tool to fix the rest of them: the ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrench ''wrench]. With the tools of the trade already finding standardization, miniaturization was already the way of the future *Primitive optics, mostly large magnifying glasses, sometimes layered, were leading to tinkers pushing the boundaries of what could be done on a mechanical level. Especially prevalent in Germany, especially Nuremberg and Augsburg, were ahead of the curve. *In the Alt-U, they’d created clock-watches in 1390. Called Nuremberg eggs, these cylindrical pieces had to be wound twice a day and could be hours off. Not really intended to tell time, they were jewelry and novelties. The Royal Medical College was a branch of the Academy Sparked by the death of half the country to plague, and inspired by the survival of a select few, there was a drive and desire to democritize the quest for health. There were, by the late 1400s, well-regarded European schools of medicine, including the Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno – and the relative upstart that was upstaging them at the University of Montpellier. Neither of these did a great deal of good in London. This opened the door to the Royal Medical College, was a very specific branch of the Academy. The Coronet Palatine didn’t act in a vacuum. Assisting the Regency were doctors of the Guild of Surgeons Within the City of London, chartered comparatively recently in 1368, who were now falling over themselves to get closer to the Crown and anyone that could answer questions about Rick, who rumor had it, was bringing people back from the brink of death to work for him. They wanted to take restorative power and distribute it… They were even willing to offer their own facilities to host this bit of learning, the place they essentially ran: St. Bartholomew's Hospital, just northwest of London in Smithfield. Founded in 1123, Barts was the oldest Hospital in Europe. Therein, the RMC was tied in as the RANP’s medical division. Category:Hall of Records Category:1376